The 21st century
Belarus · born Minsk, 1998 · right-handed · three times Wimbledon semi-finalist
All playersBack to the rankings
3
Wimbledon semi-finals, 2021, 2023 and 2025
19-7
Wimbledon singles match record to 2026
2
Grass singles finals, 2018 and 2022
1
Grass title, Berlin doubles 2021
Born in Minsk on 5 May 1998, Sabalenka came to tennis by chance: her father saw some courts while driving her somewhere and took her to play. She trained at the National Tennis Academy in Minsk from 2014, won the US Open doubles in 2019 and the Australian Open doubles in 2021 with Elise Mertens, and first reached world No. 1 in September 2023. She won the Australian Open in 2023 and 2024 and the US Open in 2024 and 2025, finished 2024 and 2025 as year-end No. 1 and had spent 107 weeks at the top by 2026. In 2026 she won Brisbane, Indian Wells and Miami and lost the Australian Open final to Elena Rybakina. Her 2026 grass season brought a semi-final in Berlin and, as top seed, a fourth-round defeat by Naomi Osaka at Wimbledon.
| Wimbledon singles | Semi-finalist 2021, 2023 and 2025; fourth round 2026; second round 2017; first round 2018 and 2019. Barred in 2022 with all Russian and Belarusian players; withdrew in 2024 with a right shoulder injury |
|---|---|
| Wimbledon semi-finals | 2021: lost to KarolÃna PlÃÅ¡ková in three sets. 2023: lost to Ons Jabeur in three sets. 2025: lost to Amanda Anisimova 4-6, 6-4, 4-6, having dropped one set all fortnight |
| Grass finals | Eastbourne 2018: lost to Caroline Wozniacki 5-7, 6-7 (5). 's-Hertogenbosch 2022: lost to Ekaterina Alexandrova 5-7, 0-6. No grass singles title yet |
| Grass doubles | Berlin 2021 with Victoria Azarenka: beat Nicole Melichar and Demi Schuurs 4-6, 7-5, 10-4 in the match tie-break. Wimbledon doubles quarter-final 2019 |
| 2026 on grass | Berlin: semi-final, lost to Jessica Pegula 4-6, 7-6 (4), 0-6. Wimbledon, top seed: lost to Naomi Osaka 6-2, 7-6 (2) in the fourth round |
| Berlin | ||
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | Women's doubles | with Victoria Azarenka |
Leading grass titles only: the grass majors, tour-level grass events since 1968 and the leading grass championships before 1968. †single source; ‡ sources disagree. Roll of champions
"I didn't have to pretend that they were cheering for me."
The person behind the player.
Minsk, childhood
Her start in tennis came by chance. "One day, my dad was just driving me somewhere in the car, and he saw tennis courts on the way," she has said. Her father had been an ice hockey player; she went on to train at the National Tennis Academy in Minsk when it opened in 2014.
Source: WikipediaWimbledon 2022
A year after her first Wimbledon semi-final, the All England Club refused entries from Russian and Belarusian players and she missed the Championships. She still played the grass season elsewhere and reached the final in 's-Hertogenbosch, where Ekaterina Alexandrova beat her 7-5, 6-0.
Source: WikipediaDubai 2025
In December 2025 she played Nick Kyrgios, the 2022 Wimbledon finalist, in a Battle of the Sexes exhibition in Dubai. Kyrgios won 6-3, 6-3. Seven months later they were on the same grass again at Wimbledon, Kyrgios in the men's doubles and Sabalenka as top seed.
Source: WikipediaWimbledon 2026 · First round
Before their opening match, Teodora Kostovic said she wanted to see whether the world No. 1 could handle her power. Sabalenka won 6-2, 6-3, laughed at the remark afterwards and said "How scary," adding that the young player's confidence was a good thing and that she tries not to read pre-match comments.
Source: Punto de BreakWimbledon 2026 · Fourth round
In 28C heat that made the ball fly, Naomi Osaka's flat hitting rushed her. Her team sent four freshly strung rackets on court during the first set, most likely at a higher tension to control the pace. Osaka won 6-2, 7-6 (2) in under an hour and a half, her first win over a world No. 1 since 2019.
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